The new president of Johnny’s is only a link between the two.

Attention is focused on the press conference that the Johnny’s s office will hold on September 7 this month. I have been an entertainment reporter for a long time, and I do not recall ever seeing a press conference where the executives of the agency sat on a dais and answered reporters’ questions. That is why many media outlets do not possess official photos or videos of both Janney & Mary Kitagawa.

In response to the issue of Mr. Janney’s sexual assault, the firm established a special team of outside experts to prevent a recurrence. The team found that Mr. Janney had a long history of sexual abuse from 1950 to the mid-2010s. Now that the perpetrator is dead, so to speak, the one-sided victim’s claim was accepted, which was harsher than expected for the firm. It also recommended the resignation of President Keiko Fujishima Julie. A desk clerk at a sports newspaper explained.

The resignation of Keiko Fujishima as president had been rumored since the issue broke out and she was forced to apologize in a video. The office was originally created by his mother and uncle. Aside from managing his assets, there is a question mark when asked if he had a greater passion for entertainment than his mother. At the time we requested a special team to investigate the matter, it seems that he chose to step down as president and take control as company owner from now on. But the main reason for his resignation seems to be that he didn’t want to go to a press conference.”

According to sources, even before the Pandora’s box was opened, there were speculations that Julie would step down as chairman, inviting a president from Sony, with which she has close ties. However, Sony declined the offer, saying it would not pick up any chestnuts from the fire. The names of veteran members of Johnny’s, such as Noriyuki Higashiyama, Shigeru Jojima, and Yoshihiko Inohara, were raised. Higashiyama was reportedly married to Mr. Julie in the past, while Johjima is the president of TOKIO Inc. and Inohara is the president of Johnny’s Island.

It is said that Higashiyama is almost a done deal. He is proud of the fact that he has been trained by Mr. Janney, and above all, he is considered by those around him to be very vain. Now that Masahiko Kondo has left, he also has the pride of being the first to leave the company. Also, he has a trusting relationship with Hideaki Takizawa, who retired this year as vice president, so there is a strong expectation that the relationship will be restored. The fact that he even hinted at the need to change the company’s name on the TV program he anchors may have been a sign of his motivation,” said an entertainment agency insider.

Nevertheless, Higashiyama, who was favored by Mary as well as Janey, could not escape the special team’s suggestion that the office had systematically covered up the sexual assault. Although he will not be asked about his own sexual assaults at the press conference, whether or not he will be able to speak about Mr. Janney’s merits and sins, light and shadow, in his own words, will set the tone for the future.

If only to deflect the winds of public opinion, there is also the line of Inohara, who has a high reputation for likability. However, while external negotiations are important, the most important thing for an entertainment agency is to nurture and manage so-called “sellable talent. Considering this, there remains a certain amount of uncertainty whether it is Higashiyama or Inohara. The man whose name is being mentioned as the trump card is that man. A reporter in charge of Johnny’s for a sports paper said, “The strength of Johnny’s is that Mr. Johnny is the one who is in charge of the management of the company.

Johnny’s’s strength has been Mr. Johnny’s ability to recognize talent and direct it. Looking around at the current Johnny’s, Matsumoto Jun of Arashi is probably the one with the most talent. However, Arashi’s 25th anniversary is coming up, and he will need more time to move from a supporting role to a behind-the-scenes role. That is why I think the appointment of the new president is more of a stepping stone.

Julie has been in charge of Arashi’s management. There seems to be no objection to Matsumoto’s eventual appointment as the head of the office.